Ashfords Solicitors - Wreck of the vessel "Napoli"

All that is required under the Merchant Shipping Act is for a Maritime & Coastguard Agency form (entitled Report of Wreck and Salvage) to be filled in and sent to the Receiver of Wreck at the MCA's head office in Southampton. The form is very straightforward and can be found on the MCA website. It must be submitted within 28 calendar days of recovering any items of equipment or property previously on board the "Napoli".

Second, the finder of the property has a duty to take all care whilst it is in his or her possession and allow free access to it by any person appointed by the Receiver of Wreck to inspect it. It should not, unless expressly authorised by the Receiver of Wreck, be removed from the United Kingdom or sold and the rightful owner and/or consignee has a year within which to prove ownership and claim possession of the item salved.

Third, both the Receiver of Wreck and the finder have security pending a resolution of any salvage claim the finder may have and also payment of the Receiver of Wreck's reasonable expenses. If the wreck property is the subject of salvage (which cargo almost invariably is) and the finder has acted voluntarily (which in these circumstances they appear to have done) and there was a degree of danger coupled with a successful operation, then a common law right of salvage exists. The amount of the reward shall be established with reference to a number of factors which include, but are not limited, to:

The salved value of the property (this will be market value as at the date the finder terminates his or her salvage services, i.e. successfully (stated above);
The skill and effort in preventing or minimising damage to the environment;
The nature and degree of the danger involved in salving the item of equipment;
The skill and efforts involved by the finder;
The promptness of the removal of the goods from the beach (therefore maintaining their market value);
Any special compensation that may be appropriate in light of the finder's attempts to avoid damage to the environment.

Self evidently such valuation of the salvage service is far from an exact science but in most cases it is usual to come to some reasonable agreement between the consignees, the owners and/or their insurers in order to ensure the equipment can be released to the rightful owners, subject to payment of the sums agreed. The Receiver of Wreck has authority to apportion sums up to a value of £5,000. Failing agreement the matter can be dealt with by an arbitration, as set out for example by the London Marine Arbitration Association, where there is special provisions for claims under £50,000.

In a case such as this the value of the individual items being claimed may not be particularly large and any such arbitration may be disproportionate to the sums being claimed.

Fourth, if the salved item is not claimed within a year it becomes the property of the Crown but, practically speaking, the Receiver of Wreck (providing its expenses are covered) will allow the finder of the item salved to retain it and have good title."

Ashfords is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. The information in this article is intended to be general information about English law only and not comprehensive. It is not to be relied on as legal advice nor as an alternative to taking professional advice relating to specific circumstances.

23rd January 2007

Key Contacts

Wreck of the vessel "Napoli"

Introduction